American Symphony

2023 1h 44m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 68

DocumentaryMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Musician Jon Batiste attempts to compose a symphony as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, undergoes cancer treatment.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

NetflixSubscription

Netflix Standard with AdsSubscription

Cast

Jon Batiste
Self
Suleika Jaouad
Self
Lindsey Byrnes
Self
Anna Wintour
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jonathan Dinklage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Louis Cato
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Stephen Colbert
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Billie Eilish
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Matthew Heineman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Matthew Heineman, shot by Thorsten Thielow. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jon Batiste. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Matthew Heineman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad and Lindsey Byrnes carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt28865980 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 68 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Matthew Heineman directs. Thorsten Thielow behind the camera. Jon Batiste scores. Matthew Heineman cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 3 years ago.
2Directed by Matthew Heineman, shot by Thorsten Thielow. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Jon Batiste. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Matthew Heineman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad and Lindsey Byrnes carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt28865980 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 68 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thorsten Thielow
Original score: Jon Batiste
Editing: Matthew Heineman
Sound: Tom Paul
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: American Symphony (2023)

Also by

Matthew Heineman

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Brent Marchant2023-11-30
★ 8/10
Creating a great work of art is very much like creating a heartfelt, loving relationship. Both take work and commitment, both in good times and bad. The challenges can be difficult, but the rewards can be incalculable. Learning how to successfully maneuver through them, as well as how to strike a harmonious balance that keeps both ventures moving forward, is a skill that takes an array of abilities and aptitudes to master, but, as documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman’s latest so deftly illustrates, it’s an attainable goal, the prevailing highs and lows notwithstanding. The film follows the extraordinary year experienced by musician/composer Jon Batiste and his wife, best-selling author Suleika Jaouad. In 2022, they came face to face with both ends of the spectrum of life. Batiste, an artist with an impressive musical range and repertoire, was reaching new heights in his career, winning five Grammy Awards while serving as band leader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and seeking to complete work on an ambitious composition aimed at reflecting the breadth of our national music, diversity and culture, American Symphony. At the same time, though, Jaouad suffered a recurrence of the cancer she battled a decade earlier, an illness she chronicled in writings that would come to launch a career; now, after a 10-year remission, she was facing a second, potentially risky bone marrow transplant to treat her condition, not to mention an uncertain future. With such seemingly polar opposite fates befalling them, Batiste and Jaouad struggled to get through their respective challenges while keeping their love and art alive, putting their successes into perspective in light of what they were up against otherwise. This intimate, heartstring-tugging documentary gives viewers a candid, up-close look at what a truly loving couple can experience under such diverse, trying and bittersweet circumstances, but without becoming manipulative or melodramatic. This beautifully photographed story provides an unfiltered depiction of the range of emotions that each partner goes through, particularly when it comes to its musings of the philosophical insights observed by each of the spouses. It also showcases Batiste’s wide-ranging musical styles, both in his performances and in his composition process. Admittedly, a few of this offering’s sequences meander a bit, but the overall production is skillfully edited and sensitively portrayed. “American Symphony” is a beautifully moving film, one that reinforces what matters most in life and what makes it worth living, during both good times and bad, as long as we have each other to make our way through it, bringing new meaning to what our marriage vows are ultimately all about.
CinemaSerf2024-02-01
★ 6/10
Not being terribly steeped in my "American Roots" I was wondering just who Jon Batiste actually was and whether, Aaron Copland-style, we were going to get a modern day illustration of a man writing an art-form that would seem to have long gone out of fashion for the mainstream audiences to whom his Grammy-nominated music appealed. Sadly, not. What we get here is rather muddled documentary that tries to show us a little of the real man, of his wife Suleika - who is undergoing some pretty torrid treatment for leukaemia - all whilst we watch him write, have rather pained sessions with his shrink - "this is the train you are on!" but actually we see precious little of just how the man functions as a musician. As a creator of what he hopes will be a modern orchestral masterpiece to be showcased at a full Carnegie Hall, we just don't get anything like close enough to what makes him tick, what inspires his creativity. Clearly lockdown didn't help - nor are face masks great for microphones capturing dialogue - but the whole thing is a sprawl of a film that actually left me feeling that Batiste was a man who vacillated from the earnest to the entertaining as if it were a switch that was being turned on. Some of the hospital scenes were just downright intrusive - I felt distinctly uncomfortable being a fly on the wall for some of the consultations! I fear the technical simplicity of creating these sort of access all areas, fly-on-the-wall, documentaries is going to lead to many more of them in the coming years, but if they are to work they really do need a strong, independent, director who can construct a narrative that informs the audience, not just showcases the personality of star. It's worth a watch, I suppose, but there's not too much symphonic going on.